Carter Hart did a superb impression of Carey Price through the opening 20 minutes Saturday night at the Bell Centre.

The Canadiens had a first-period shot advantage of 12-1. Shot attempts were 28-9.

Domination.

But the Flyers’ 20-year-old rookie stopped everything. And Hart kept on making stops while his teammates took over the game.

You can’t fault Antti Niemi for the loss.

In contrast to the Canadiens, the visitors cashed their scoring opportunities.

And against a team that played two back-to-backs in six days, it was inevitable Philadelphia had the legs over the game’s final 40 minutes.

The Canadiens weren’t awful.

But they weren’t good … and that was probably attributable to fatigue.

Oh, and the craptastic power play … again.

Jakub Voracek took Philly’s only penalty of the game — that says something right there — 13:33 into the second period. The PP managed exactly one shot on goal: a 40-foot Jonathan Drouin wrister that did not unduly trouble Hart.

A minute and a half after Voracek got out of the box, Travis Konecny opened the scoring.

And that, as it turned out, was the ballgame.

The home team didn’t quit.

Max Domi’s goal averted a shutout and made things briefly exciting. Brett Kulak’s late one ignited fast-flickering hopes of a miraculous comeback.

But tired teams don’t pull off miracles … especially against a 20-year-old kid who may finally be the answer to Philadelphia’s perpetual goaltending problems.

Before the game began, fans and pundits talked up scenarios in which the Canadiens would move up into second place in the Atlantic Division.

That didn’t happen as pie-in-the sky turned to snowfall in frigid Montreal.

But the home team is still in a wild-card spot. Even if the Sabres win their two games in hand, they can’t overtake the Canadiens. And they’re 10 points ahead of Carolina.

If the Canadiens lose to Arizona on Wednesday, fans can have a collective nervous breakdown heading into All-Star weekend.

For now, just take a deep breath, watch the snow fall and hope your car starts Sunday morning.

This Week's Flyers

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